Austria

Salzburg & Fuschl

From June 14th to June 16th, 2023

Stay

• Schloss Mönchstein

See/Do

• Enjoyed a day relaxing at the pool, beautiful outdoor pool overlooking the city

• Walked through the Museum Moderne to get to the main part of town

• Sampled some cheese in stores along the main street

• Sampled wine, rum, cherry, liquer, etc at a local shop called Felhop

• Sat on a bench thinking about Mozart’s life growing up in Salzburg

• Walked home from the main town back to the hotel and marveled at the fireflies in the woods

• Took a day trip to Fuschl, walked/hiked around the lake, watched locals enjoy themselves alongside the banks of the lake, ate lunch at the Rosewood, took a sneak peek at the Red Bull corporate offices

• Went to the Red Bull Hangar # 7 which features their historical flight machinery

Eat/Drink

• One of the “oldest restaurants in the world” (I think they claim to be the oldest): St. Peter Stiftskulinarium

• Michelin restaurant Senns. in Kasern

Vienna

From November 28th to December 1st, 2023

Stay

• Flew in from the Maldives and checked in to the Rosewood Hotel

See/Do

• After dinner our first night, we walked home through the Weiner Christkindlemarkt, freezing beyond belief, we got mugs of mulled wine/Gluwein and marveled at the Christmas Market flare. The church and the market were glowing and people from all over the world were taking in the scenery. Trees had Christmas lights, there were Christmas ornaments everywhere, local vendors selling their Christmas crafts, snow globes galore, a Christmas merry-go-round - it was a sight to see! We couldn’t stop taking pictures and trying to hide ourselves from the cold. We went back to the evening Christmas markets every night we were in town.

• During the daytime we walked around the main square and street, stopped into a beautiful church, ate cheese samples at a local shop, ate potato soup in a bread bowl from a local vendor, drank more gluwein out of a seasonal mug in the shape of a red boot, & Hailey bought a proper winter coat from Zara.

• Later we went to the Schonbrunn Palace, walked amongst the packed tourists (all in thick winter coats) throughout the ornate palace rooms, took a lap around their Christmas market in the plaza area in front, and then took a long stroll at the gardens behind the palace: Fasangarten. There was a neat cafe called Gloriette that overlooked the garden and the palace.

• Saw a show at the Vienna State Opera

Eat/Drink

• After checking in late to the hotel, we went for a comforting pizza dinner at Via Toledo Enopizzeria. We had incredible Napoli style pizza!

• We were turned away night one because Max was wearing “athletic pants” (they have a strict dress code policy), but we went back the night after to Kleinod - near our hotel.

• Our first lunch spot was a Max Benito Chipotle style mexican place. While not Chipotle, it was really good!

• Our favorite lunch spot, perhaps in the top 10 of all lunch spots, was at Steirereck in Stadtpark. Hailey got caught filming the bread guy while explaining all of the breads the place had and got snapped at. I guess his bread speech-song is private property.

• Our last night in Vienna we ate at Tian - a delicious vegetarian michelin star meal!